‘Disgusting’ state of cemetery criticised

Long grass at Mill Lane Cemetery in Shoreham, where council staff were at work on Tuesday

FAMILIES have spoken of their ‘disgust’ at the state of a council-owned cemetery.

One man who has four family members buried there has lead the calls for action at Mill Lane Cemetery in Shoreham.

Paul Collins, of Hillrise Avenue, Sompting, said: “Why are the council not cutting and looking after the grass? After a visit there on Sunday, I was disgusted about how it is being kept.

“What is it, bring your own lawnmower now?”

He said he had spoken to several people on Sunday and they were all complaining.

“They have been laying down their rules about the graves for years, the surround, etc.,” he added. “Yet when they cut it last time, they never even bothered about cleaning the grass up. I had to take a rake down there to clear the great clogs of grass away.”

A council spokesman said: “Adur District Council would like to extend our apologies for the current length of grass in sections of Mill Road Cemetery.

“Unfortunately, standards in parts of the cemetery are presently not in keeping with what we strive to achieve.

“We would like to reassure you that we have all our available cemetery staff working hard to try to keep the grassed areas within a standard acceptable to our cemetery visitors, in addition to them carrying out their grave-digging duties.

“The current weather conditions we are experiencing has contributed to the excessive grass growth caused by rainfall which fuels a flush of growth once the weather warms up in the spring months.

“To counter this, we have this week moved in temporarily additional staff from other teams within the parks and foreshore section into the cemetery, which will allow us to catch up with the outstanding grass to be cut.”